1974–75 Washington Capitals season

1974–75 Washington Capitals
Division5th Norris
Conference9th Wales
1974–75 record8–67–5
Home record7–28–5
Road record1–39–0
Goals for181
Goals against446
Team information
General managerMilt Schmidt
CoachJim Anderson
Red Sullivan
Milt Schmidt
CaptainDoug Mohns
Team leaders
GoalsTom Williams (22)
AssistsTom Williams (36)
PointsTom Williams (58)
Penalty minutesYvon Labre (182)
WinsRon Low (8)
Goals against averageMichel Belhumeur (5.36)

The 1974–75 Washington Capitals season was the first in Capitals history. Along with the Kansas City Scouts, the Capitals joined the National Hockey League as an expansion team for the 1974–75 season. The team was owned by Abe Pollin, owner of the NBA's Washington Bullets. Pollin had built the Capital Centre in suburban Landover, Maryland, to house both the Bullets (who formerly played in Baltimore) and the Capitals. His first act as owner was to hire Hall of Famer Milt Schmidt as general manager.

The team's record of 8–67–5 is the worst individual season in the history of the NHL,[1] including an all-time worst 446 goals against, with a fourth-all-time worst 5.58 team goals against average.[2]

Offseason

NHL Draft

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team
1 1 Greg Joly (D)  Canada Regina Pats (WCHL)
2 19 Mike Marson (LW)  Canada Sudbury Wolves (OMJHL)
3 37 John Paddock (RW)  Canada Brandon Wheat Kings (WCHL)
4 55 Paul Nicholson (LW)  Canada London Knights (OMJHL)
5 73 Jack Patterson (C)  Canada Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL)
6 91 Brian Kinsella (C)  Canada Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)
7 109 Garth Malarchuk (G)  Canada Calgary Centennials (WCHL)
8 127 John Nazar (LW)  Canada Cornwall Royals (QMJHL)
9 144 Kelvin Erickson (G)  Canada Calgary Centennials (WCHL)
10 161 Tony White (LW)  Canada Kitchener Rangers (OMJHL)
11 176 Ron Pronchuk (D)  Canada Brandon Wheat Kings (WCHL)
12 190 Dave McKee (RW)  Canada Oshawa Generals (OMJHL)
13 202 Scott Mabley (D)  Canada Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OMJHL)
14 212 Bernard Plante (LW)  Canada Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)
15 220 Jacques Chiasson (RW)  Canada Drummondville Rangers (QMJHL)
16 225 Bill Bell (LW)  Canada Regina Pats (WCHL)
17 228 Bob Blanchet (G)  Canada Kitchener Rangers (OMJHL)
18 231 Johnny Bower Jr. (D)  Canada Downsview Beavers (OPJHL)
19 234 Yves Plouffe (D)  Canada Sorel Eperviers (QMJHL)
20 237 Terry Bozack (D)  Canada Pembroke Lumber Kings (CJAHL)
21 240 Gord Cole (LW)  Canada Brandon Wheat Kings (WCHL)
22 242 Mike Cosentino (C)  Canada Hamilton Fincups (OMJHL)
23 244 John Duncan (D)  Canada Cornwall Royals (QMJHL)
24 246 Barry Kerfoot (RW)  Canada Smiths Falls Bears (CJAHL)
25 247 Ron Poole (C)  Canada Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL)

Expansion draft

# Player Drafted From Drafted By
2. Ron Low (G) Toronto Maple Leafs Washington Capitals
4. Michel Belhumeur (G) Philadelphia Flyers Washington Capitals
6. Dave Kryskow (F) Chicago Black Hawks Washington Capitals
8. Yvon Labre (D) Pittsburgh Penguins Washington Capitals
10. Pete Laframboise (LW) California Golden Seals Washington Capitals
12. Bob Gryp (F) Boston Bruins Washington Capitals
14. Gord Smith (D) Los Angeles Kings Washington Capitals
16. Steve Atkinson (RW) Buffalo Sabres Washington Capitals
18. Bruce Cowick (F) Philadelphia Flyers Washington Capitals
20. Denis Dupere (LW) Toronto Maple Leafs Washington Capitals
22. Joe Lundrigan (D) Toronto Maple Leafs Washington Capitals
24. Randy Wyrozub (C) Buffalo Sabres Washington Capitals
26. Mike Bloom (C) Boston Bruins Washington Capitals
28. Gord Brooks (RW) St. Louis Blues Washington Capitals
30. Bob Collyard (C) St. Louis Blues Washington Capitals
32. Bill Mikkelson (D) New York Islanders Washington Capitals
34. Ron Anderson (RW) Boston Bruins Washington Capitals
36. Mike Lampman (LW) Vancouver Canucks Washington Capitals
38. Lew Morrison (RW) Atlanta Flames Washington Capitals
40. Steve West (C) Minnesota North Stars Washington Capitals
42. Larry Bolonchuk (D) Vancouver Canucks Washington Capitals
44. Murray Anderson (D) Minnesota North Stars Washington Capitals
46. Larry Fullan (LW) Montreal Canadiens Washington Capitals
48. Jack Egers (RW) New York Rangers Washington Capitals

Regular season

Along with the Kansas City Scouts, the Capitals joined the NHL as an expansion team for the 1974–75 season. With a combined 30 teams between the NHL and the rival World Hockey Association, the talent pool available to stock the new teams was extremely thin. In their first season, the Capitals would set an NHL record for futility, losing 67 of 80 games, and only winning one on the road. The Scouts fared only marginally better (getting their first win against the Capitals, albeit in their tenth game of existence), and the expansion was widely seen as having been a mistake.

The Capitals' inaugural season was dreadful, even by expansion standards. They finished 8–67–5, which is the worst record in NHL history.[3] Their 21 points were half that of their expansion brethren, the Scouts. They won only eight games, the fewest ever by a team playing at least 70 games. Their .131 winning percentage is still the worst in NHL history. They also set records for most road losses (39 out of 40), most consecutive road losses (37) and most consecutive losses (17), most of which have now been broken. Schmidt himself had to take over the coaching reins late in the season. The Capitals failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Of Washington's eight wins, seven of them were decided by two goals or more, with their season superlative 8–4 win in their final game.

The last remaining active member of the 1974–75 Washington Capitals was Ron Low, who played his final NHL game in the 1984–85 season, although he missed the 1978–79 season, as well as the season before this one.

Final standings

Norris Division[4]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Montreal Canadiens 80 47 14 19 374 225 +149 113
2 Los Angeles Kings 80 42 17 21 269 185 +84 105
3 Pittsburgh Penguins 80 37 28 15 326 289 +37 89
4 Detroit Red Wings 80 23 45 12 259 335 −76 58
5 Washington Capitals 80 8 67 5 181 446 −265 21


Record vs. opponents

Norris Division record vs. opponents


Schedule and results

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 L October 9, 1974 3–6 @ New York Rangers (1974–75) 0–1–0
2 L October 12, 1974 0–6 @ Minnesota North Stars (1974–75) 0–2–0
3 T October 15, 1974 1–1 Los Angeles Kings (1974–75) 0–2–1
4 W October 17, 1974 4–3 Chicago Black Hawks (1974–75) 1–2–1
5 L October 19, 1974 4–6 @ Detroit Red Wings (1974–75) 1–3–1
6 L October 20, 1974 0–5 New York Islanders (1974–75) 1–4–1
7 L October 22, 1974 0–3 Detroit Red Wings (1974–75) 1–5–1
8 L October 23, 1974 2–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1974–75) 1–6–1
9 L October 27, 1974 3–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1974–75) 1–7–1
10 L October 31, 1974 0–3 Montreal Canadiens (1974–75) 1–8–1
11 L November 3, 1974 4–5 Kansas City Scouts (1974–75) 1–9–1
12 L November 7, 1974 4–10 @ Boston Bruins (1974–75) 1–10–1
13 L November 9, 1974 2–6 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1974–75) 1–11–1
14 L November 10, 1974 1–11 Montreal Canadiens (1974–75) 1–12–1
15 T November 12, 1974 2–2 Atlanta Flames (1974–75) 1–12–2
16 L November 13, 1974 3–4 @ Atlanta Flames (1974–75) 1–13–2
17 L November 16, 1974 1–8 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1974–75) 1–14–2
18 L November 17, 1974 0–6 Pittsburgh Penguins (1974–75) 1–15–2
19 W November 19, 1974 6–4 California Golden Seals (1974–75) 2–15–2
20 L November 20, 1974 3–7 @ Buffalo Sabres (1974–75) 2–16–2
21 T November 24, 1974 4–4 Minnesota North Stars (1974–75) 2–16–3
22 L November 27, 1974 4–6 @ Minnesota North Stars (1974–75) 2–17–3
23 L November 30, 1974 1–7 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1974–75) 2–18–3
24 L December 1, 1974 2–5 California Golden Seals (1974–75) 2–19–3
25 L December 3, 1974 3–5 Buffalo Sabres (1974–75) 2–20–3
26 L December 5, 1974 2–9 @ Buffalo Sabres (1974–75) 2–21–3
27 L December 7, 1974 2–8 @ St. Louis Blues (1974–75) 2–22–3
28 L December 8, 1974 1–3 St. Louis Blues (1974–75) 2–23–3
29 T December 12, 1974 6–6 New York Rangers (1974–75) 2–23–4
30 L December 14, 1974 1–12 @ Boston Bruins (1974–75) 2–24–4
31 W December 15, 1974 3–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1974–75) 3–24–4
32 L December 17, 1974 2–4 @ Vancouver Canucks (1974–75) 3–25–4
33 L December 19, 1974 1–4 @ Los Angeles Kings (1974–75) 3–26–4
34 L December 20, 1974 2–5 @ California Golden Seals (1974–75) 3–27–4
35 L December 22, 1974 0–4 Buffalo Sabres (1974–75) 3–28–4
36 L December 26, 1974 1–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1974–75) 3–29–4
37 L December 29, 1974 0–7 New York Islanders (1974–75) 3–30–4
38 L January 2, 1975 2–5 @ New York Islanders (1974–75) 3–31–4
39 L January 4, 1975 0–10 @ Montreal Canadiens (1974–75) 3–32–4
40 L January 5, 1975 0–3 @ Atlanta Flames (1974–75) 3–33–4
41 T January 7, 1975 3–3 Boston Bruins (1974–75) 3–33–5
42 L January 11, 1975 3–5 @ Kansas City Scouts (1974–75) 3–34–5
43 L January 12, 1975 2–7 Montreal Canadiens (1974–75) 3–35–5
44 L January 14, 1975 2–6 Los Angeles Kings (1974–75) 3–36–5
45 L January 16, 1975 0–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1974–75) 3–37–5
46 L January 19, 1975 2–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1974–75) 3–38–5
47 L January 23, 1975 2–3 Vancouver Canucks (1974–75) 3–39–5
48 L January 25, 1975 2–5 @ Detroit Red Wings (1974–75) 3–40–5
49 W January 26, 1975 6–3 Detroit Red Wings (1974–75) 4–40–5
50 L January 30, 1975 4–6 @ Los Angeles Kings (1974–75) 4–41–5
51 L February 1, 1975 2–5 @ Vancouver Canucks (1974–75) 4–42–5
52 L February 5, 1975 1–5 @ California Golden Seals (1974–75) 4–43–5
53 L February 8, 1975 1–5 @ New York Islanders (1974–75) 4–44–5
54 L February 9, 1975 3–7 @ New York Rangers (1974–75) 4–45–5
55 W February 11, 1975 7–4 New York Rangers (1974–75) 5–45–5
56 L February 13, 1975 1–5 @ Kansas City Scouts (1974–75) 5–46–5
57 L February 15, 1975 1–7 @ St. Louis Blues (1974–75) 5–47–5
58 W February 16, 1975 3–0 Kansas City Scouts (1974–75) 6–47–5
59 L February 18, 1975 1–6 Los Angeles Kings (1974–75) 6–48–5
60 L February 21, 1975 4–9 Buffalo Sabres (1974–75) 6–49–5
61 L February 22, 1975 3–10 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1974–75) 6–50–5
62 L February 23, 1975 2–7 St. Louis Blues (1974–75) 6–51–5
63 L February 25, 1975 2–6 Chicago Black Hawks (1974–75) 6–52–5
64 L February 26, 1975 1–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1974–75) 6–53–5
65 L March 1, 1975 4–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1974–75) 6–54–5
66 L March 2, 1975 3–7 Vancouver Canucks (1974–75) 6–55–5
67 L March 4, 1975 0–8 Boston Bruins (1974–75) 6–56–5
68 L March 7, 1975 4–8 @ Montreal Canadiens (1974–75) 6–57–5
69 L March 9, 1975 2–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1974–75) 6–58–5
70 L March 15, 1975 1–12 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1974–75) 6–59–5
71 L March 18, 1975 2–7 Philadelphia Flyers (1974–75) 6–60–5
72 L March 20, 1975 1–5 Minnesota North Stars (1974–75) 6–61–5
73 L March 22, 1975 2–8 @ Boston Bruins (1974–75) 6–62–5
74 L March 23, 1975 0–5 Atlanta Flames (1974–75) 6–63–5
75 L March 26, 1975 1–5 @ Los Angeles Kings (1974–75) 6–64–5
76 W March 28, 1975 5–3 @ California Golden Seals (1974–75) 7–64–5
77 L March 30, 1975 5–8 Detroit Red Wings (1974–75) 7–65–5
78 L April 2, 1975 3–8 @ Detroit Red Wings (1974–75) 7–66–5
79 L April 5, 1975 2–10 @ Montreal Canadiens (1974–75) 7–67–5
80 W April 6, 1975 8–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1974–75) 8–67–5

Playoffs

The Capitals had an appalling first season and did not qualify for the playoffs. They had the worst points percentage all-time in NHL post expansion history with a 0.131 win percentage average. In addition, they had the worst road record in NHL history, winning their only road game against the California Golden Seals in the 76th game of the season and third-to-last road game of the season.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Tommy Williams RW 73 22 36 58 12 -48 7 2 1
Denis Dupere LW 53 20 15 35 8 -41 8 0 0
Mike Marson LW 76 16 12 28 59 -65 5 0 2
Yvon Labre D 76 4 23 27 182 -54 0 0 0
Ron Lalonde C 50 12 14 26 27 -39 4 1 1
Mike Bloom LW 67 7 19 26 84 -54 0 0 0
Dave Kryskow LW 51 9 15 24 83 -28 1 1 0
Doug Mohns LW/D 75 2 19 21 54 -52 1 0 0
Bill Lesuk LW 79 8 11 19 77 -34 1 2 0
Stan Gilbertson LW 25 11 7 18 12 -37 2 0 1
Garnet Bailey LW 22 4 13 17 8 -29 1 0 0
Ron Anderson RW 28 9 7 16 8 -20 4 0 0
Steve Atkinson RW 46 11 4 15 8 -26 3 2 0
Pete Laframboise LW/C 45 5 10 15 22 -37 0 0 0
Bob Gryp LW 27 5 8 13 21 -24 0 0 0
Bruce Cowick LW 65 5 6 11 41 -42 0 0 0
Gord Smith D 63 3 8 11 56 -56 2 0 0
Gord Brooks RW 38 1 10 11 25 -19 1 0 0
Nelson Pyatt C 16 6 4 10 21 -14 0 0 1
Jim Hrycuik C 21 5 5 10 12 -12 1 0 0
Bill Mikkelson D 59 3 7 10 52 -82 3 0 0
Paul Nicholson LW 39 4 5 9 7 -29 0 0 1
Greg Joly D 44 1 7 8 44 -68 1 0 0
Jack Lynch D 20 1 5 6 16 -54 0 0 0
Jack Egers RW 14 3 2 5 8 -14 1 0 1
Lew Morrison RW 18 0 4 4 6 -14 0 0 0
Ron Jones D 19 1 1 2 16 -14 1 0 0
Michel Belhumeur G 35 0 2 2 10 0 0 0 0
Tony White LW 5 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
Willie Brossart D 12 1 0 1 14 -14 0 0 0
Larry Fullan LW 4 1 0 1 0 -2 1 0 0
Blair Stewart C 2 1 0 1 2 -2 0 0 0
Murray Anderson D 40 0 1 1 68 -40 0 0 0
John Adams G 8 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Ron Low G 48 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0
Joe Lundrigan D 3 0 0 0 2 -3 0 0 0
Andre Peloffy C 9 0 0 0 0 -8 0 0 0
Bill Riley RW 1 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0
Rod Seiling D 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Ron Low 2588 48 8 36 2 235 5.45 1
John Adams 400 8 0 7 0 46 6.90 0
Michel Belhumeur 1812 35 0 24 3 162 5.36 0
Team: 4800 80 8 67 5 446[a] 5.58 1
  1. ^ Team total Goals Against includes three empty-net goals[2]

Source[6]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals
      MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SO = Shutouts;

References

  1. ^ Shannon, Mike (August 2, 2011). "NHL History: The 10 Worst Teams of All Time". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on December 2, 2022. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Statistics | Teams | Regular Season | 1917–18 to 2021–22". National Hockey League. May 1, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  3. ^ "NHL History: The 10 Worst Teams of All Time". BleacherReport.com. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  4. ^ "1974-1975 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  5. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  6. ^ "1974-75 Washington Capitals Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 2, 2009.